


Love Knows No Language (or maybe each single one)

by Void (EroEmo)



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, French-speaking Steve, Humor, Living Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War, Post: CW, Russian-speaking Bucky, Sassy Natasha, Sassy Steve, Slow Build, post serum steve, post winter soldier Bucky, sassy Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 01:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6884188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EroEmo/pseuds/Void
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes speaking about feelings is hard and seems almost impossible.<br/>Have you ever tried in another language, though?</p><p>Steve has.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Knows No Language (or maybe each single one)

“I’d be really grateful if you moved your ass, Buck.”

Because of an opened window their usually peaceful flat was now filled with casual honks, occasional police sirens and overall traffic noise, so typical for Brooklyn. It was constantly making them feel like at home, as if they had never left this place. Bittersweet memories floating around over and over again, reminding them of those golden times and how quickly they ended thanks to war.

It was not only that, though. Speaking the truth, their peace was slowly yet constantly slipping out since Steve’s Ma had passed away. After that it was almost a cascade, rapid enough to steal them blind but calm enough not to be spotted till the last minute when it was too late.

Bucky being sent to Europe. Steve being injected serum and joining Colonel Philips soon after. Solitude rescue mission because it was impossible for Bucky to be dead. Forming Howling Commandos. An accident on a train. Defeating Schmidt and putting his flying bomb into water. Waking up after few decades in the future. Fighting with enemies and finding out about Winter Soldier. Another rescue mission. Defeating HYDRA. Dealing with mess afterwards. Quite a spectacular course of events for only one lifetime, somebody could say.

And now, after achieving a rather constant and not so rough state, they could return at their old place. Together.

“I think you have enough space, Steve.”

However, “in harmony” was not quite an appropriate thing to say.

Both of them had changed not only physically but also mentally. Steve seemed to handle most of situations pretty well and slowly get used to… everything. Bucky, on the contrary, resembled a mess. Metal arm was constantly reminding him of the traumatic past and no matter how much Steve had tried, he couldn’t ease his pain much.

There were times when both of them behaved almost entirely normal, though.

“Bucky, for God’s sake, I’m not that small teen from ‘40s, I need some more space.”

The late afternoon was calm and almost cozy, their flat filled with traffic noise thanks to the opened window. They decided to relax and watch some good old movies, nevertheless a few misunderstandings occurred.

“You don’t say, _Stevie_.”

Steve glaring at him, trying to fit in between the end of the corner sofa and Bucky, who decided to majestically spread all around their small couch. It’s not like Steve minded Buck’s behavior that much, he was actually used to it. What got on his nerves on repeat was his tone. He wouldn’t mind if Bucky decided to speak with a bit more affability or just minded his tongue at times. It was kind of odd attitude, even for him.

“Buck, why are you so prickly today?” Voice calm, tone gentle. If he unconsciously did something offensive, he’d love to know. Picking a quarrel with his roommate wasn’t on the top of his to do list and arguing in general was a bad idea. He highly disliked it, especially when Bucky was his opponent. He knew him too damn well what made everything too complicated.

“I dunno,” shoulders shrugged, face still blank. Hard to tell what he was thinking about, Steve's irritation only growing higher.

“Idiot.” Steve mumbled quietly and yet loudly enough to be sure Bucky heard this word.

“подонок1,” firm yet casual reply reached his ears and even though he had no idea what this word meant, he was fairly sure it was some kind of vulgar comeback.

The movie started and even though it was their favorite one, none of them seemed to enjoy it as much as they probably had expected they would.

The afternoon turned into evening and this turned moderately quickly into night while traffic noise remained the same. Just Brooklyn, weirdly and almost untamed, no matter how ridiculously it sounded.

* * *

 

Usually, there was nothing better than cold shower early in the morning. It tended to boost up his energy, wake him up even if he barely slept at night and just made him generally prepared for upcoming day.

Today was almost no different except a sudden lack of shampoo. And shower gel. And used razor even though it was brand new just a day before.

“Buuuuuckyyyyy,” he moaned, coming out of the bathroom only to spot his roommate peacefully drinking a coffee in the kitchen. “Have you used my stuff?”

He nodded, not even bothering to look at a half naked Steve standing only a few meters from him. Just as if he didn’t care at all.

“Fuck you," he murmured on such view, heading back to the bathroom and hoping to, at least, chill down under a cold rain from their shower.

It didn’t help.

The day was cloudy, kind of foggy and overall cold. Everybody seemed to run away into insides of buildings, trying to hide themselves from heavier or lighter drizzle, not wanting to have their hairstyles or make-ups ruined. It was a perfect day to just stay inside a warm flat, letting time pass as nothing worrying or troublesome was bugging one’s mind.

Bucky, however, had a strong urge to just go. No matter where, no matter for what. Just. Go. And Steve let him with well-hidden pleasure. He was getting on his nerves lately and he honestly wished he had the merest idea about Bucky's behavior and reasons behind it. There was a slight chance Steve was simply overreacting but something seemed off.

Suddenly, sitting alone in that small apartment sounded like a horrible idea so he decided to invite somebody. Someone, who could maybe help him in his “struggles”.

He called Natasha and surprisingly, she came fairly quickly.

A simple black turtleneck looked really nice with her dark jeans and ginger hair, somebody could even say she looked stunning. Steve was kind of used to her appearance though, so he just invited her in and offered a cup of coffee. In no time did they sit down on the couch, carefully placing their beverages nearby.

“I guess your lovey-dovey life isn’t that nice, huh?” She started bluntly, taking a small sip of her drink. Steve blinked a few times, letting her words to sink into his mind before bringing himself up to articulate a proper answer.

“Yeah, I guess,” he nodded slowly, staring blankly at his mug. “I don’t know what to do, I’m just… confused.”

“Have you told him yet?” Natasha asked firmly, taking another sip.

Sometimes Steve could not believe how straight forward this woman could be. It was both a blessing and a curse of some kind.

“Of course not,” eyebrows narrowed, mouth shaped into thin straight line. “How could I?”

“Steve-”

“I know him, okay?” He interrupted, clenching his fists out of an old habit. “He’s just regained his memories and started to recover, I don’t want to ruin this by confessing. That’s all I’m gonna say on this subject,” he cut off this matter, not letting his friend to dig it more, although he knew she would probably try again at some point.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to talk about it. Speaking the truth, Natasha was probably the only person both Steve and Bucky knew well. She was often willing to help but his love life wasn’t something so easy to deal with in the first place. It took him long enough to find Bucky and trying to help him, he didn’t need additional stress of losing him again just because he decided to take a risk at a wrong moment.

Of course he loved him. Of course he had, and even wanted, to tell him that. However, easier said than done. Especially when Bucky was grumpy and generally behaved odd. Maybe it was only Steve’s imagination or just something so trivial that it wasn’t worth mentioning to him but he couldn’t help feeling worried. Annoyed. Conflicted. Pushed aside.

“Do as you wish, honey.” Nat said bitterly, finishing her coffee. The world outside remained the same, still unfriendly and misty as if it was crying over everything and nothing at the same time. Both of them caught a glimpse of it by looking at the window in that so called living room, actually too small to be a proper one. “Why did you call me, then? Wanna talk about paperwork?”

“Hell no,” a sip taken, his mug put aside. “It’s just… I don’t know. He seems annoyed all the time and he behaves as a spoiled brat. I have no clue how to describe it, honestly. I only know it’s strange even for him and I don’t know what to do anymore."

“Sounds tough," she nodded, more to herself than to Steve, and plunge into her mind what resulted in a few minutes long silence. For Steve it seemed like a whole eternity, though. “I’d recommend talking with him, you know?”

“You don’t say,” a sarcastic tone left his mouth and a long sigh took place soon after. “I tried but he insulted me in Russian and that was the end of our talk.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, a look of moderate disbelief on her pretty face. “How do you know he was insulting you?”

“I know him well enough to understand that much.”

She nodded in silence, knowing he was right about this one. It didn’t take much intelligence to spot when somebody close to you was mean. Even in Bucky’s case it was not so hard. Nat took her time to think about a reply and Steve didn’t rush her, tranquilly finishing his beverage.

“Have you tried to insult him back in Russian?”

Steve snorted, almost choking on the last sip of his black coffee.

“How old am I? Seven?”

“Sometimes I think you both are even younger than that.”

A smirk appeared on her face, causing a wry smile on Steve’s face in return. It quickly evolved into a sly half smile. That was childish yet interesting idea. Of course they were insulting each other on a daily basis but this time it was slightly different and sounded just… bad. He didn’t know Russian at all so it would be troublesome if Bucky suddenly started to elaborately describe Steve in that language but he had something different yet similar enough in mind.

His smile turned into a mischievous grin as fun days were coming.

* * *

 

He was used to Bucky daily murmuring things in Russian to him. Nevertheless, Bucky was not prepared to receive any answers for those in French.

“Bonjour2, Buck,” he said softly, pretending to be reading a newspaper.

A fair consternation appeared on the other one’s face, bringing him up short.

“что3?”

“Je ne sais pas de quoi tu parles4.”

”…что?”

A minute of silence appeared before Bucky snorted, shaking his head. He was surprised but impressed as well. Who would have thought about Steve being so wit in his comebacks? It almost felt as if they both returned to ‘40s.

“Okay, fine. You wanna play? That’s good.”

It was the last phrase Buck said in English as from now on both of them were talking with each other in either Russian or French. After two days it stopped being a silly game of adults, it became a personal challenge and a point of honor not to let the other one win. Neither of them was willing to just switch back to their native language and give the other one the satisfaction of winning.

At the beginning Steve barely understood what Bucky wanted from him but, with a small help of Natasha and a dictionary, he managed to understand a few common phrases. Body language did it work as well because after a week or two they cooperated quite well without using words at all. At the same time Bucky merely knew French, only a few sentences and words from Howling Commandos’ times, when it was essential to know something to actually communicate with Dernier.

In the end their game was still going on for fourth week straight and it didn’t look as if they were going to quit it soon. It was too funny, too compelling to just stop doing it. Just as if they created new a bond to get closer to each other, in spite of previous misunderstandings and disagreements.

“I’m in awe, honestly.” Natasha said one day, sipping her coffee as being invited by Steve. Again. “You seriously took this ‘biting-off’ too seriously.”

“I have no idea what are you talking about,” his voice innocent, blue eyes sparkling with mischievousness. “He’s the one who started it and I have no heart to mar it.”

On the contrary to her last visit, today was rather warm with fluffy white clouds in the sky which was a rare view in such a place like Brooklyn. A fog made of dust of all kinds and smog overall compounded visibility. Today, however, prominence was amazingly clear so that even the tiniest clouds could be easily spotted. Traffic noise remained the same, though.

“Where is he, by the way?”

“Went do groceries,” Steve replied shortly, staring blankly at his drink.

“Gonna tell him?” Natasha asked curiously, looking suggestively at him. There was no need for her to precise about what he should, in her mind, tell his roommate.

It was a too common topic between them, nevertheless the answer remained the same.

“I’d love to but not now and you know why.”

She rolled her eyes as silence settled over them, fuss on a street the only source of sounds. It stayed like that for quite a while until Bucky returned with bags. He looked at them both with the raised eyebrow, putting food aside.

“здравствуйте5” He nodded at both of them, starting to unpack groceries.

“Maybe try... another way?” Eyes narrowed in that sly manner of her, voice lowered to almost a confidential whisper. “…товарищ6”

At first, he didn’t understand her but after few insisting and suggestive glances at Bucky, he finally got what that whisper was supposed to mean. He shook his head in pure disbelief, chuckled under his nose and mumbled something impossible to understand. After a minute or so, he tilted his head to look at Bucky, as if he was wondering whether such a solution was appropriate or possible. He probably decided to give it a try as he stood up and approached his roommate.

“Je veux parler avec toi7” Steve started, still wondering if this was actually a good idea.

Bucky gave him a puzzled look but said nothing, waiting for a continuation or some kind of explanation made with a proper gesticulation. Just as almost always he crossed his arms, too.

“Tu ne comprends pas, mais je dois te dire ce que je pense,” he took a slightly deeper breath, trying to think about what he was exactly going to say. “Je… Je pense toujours à toi, je pense j'ai besoin de toi,” a small smile appeared on his face as he continued his confession. “Je veux être avec toi pour toujours parce que tu es l'amour de ma vie8.”

How funny it was, to speak his deepest feelings for Bucky such a way. It was both a relief but somehow worrisome as well. He didn’t think about what he was going to do after this confession. He should probably behave the same way as always but it seemed almost impossible in the light of his confession. Speaking up about his love and then pretending nothing happened? A nightmare.

“Спасибо, Стиви. ” Bucky replied with a sly grin, squashing a laughter. “Я тоже тебя люблю9.”

Natasha almost gagged on her coffee, making both Steve and Bucky turning to her, ready to help. She coughed a few times, letting them now with a hand she’s fine. Steve had no idea what had just happened but Bucky seemed to know. Well, Nat probably understood what he said and that shocked her, making her choked on a beverage or at least that sounded logical to Steve. He would be really glad to know what made Natasha, of all of people, so surprised she couldn’t catch a breath.

“I’m fine boys, really,” she stated firmly, clearing her throat. “Well, actually, not really. I need to say something to both of you.”

“Yes?” Look of blue eyes concerned, muscles tensed.

“Steve, you are an idiot. Баки... ты жополиз10." Her voice colder than snow to only stress it, to show she really meant what she had just said. “Also, it looks like your game is over, am I right?”

“No,” they answered simultaneously, looked at each other with a surprise and then started to beam.

“Chicken?” Bucky asked, anticipation sparkling in his eyes, mouth forming into well-known shape.

“With fries?” Steve replied, giving him one of those adorably innocent smiles.

Both of them nodded, heading to the kitchen to cook a dinner. Natasha could not help but smile brightly as she was watching those dorks together.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm deeply sorry if there are any mistakes in translations, I'd be glad if you told me when something is wrong!!
> 
> 1\. Jerk  
> 2\. Good morning  
> 3\. What?  
> 4\. I don't know what are you saying.  
> 5\. Hi  
> 6\. Commrade/Friend  
> 7\. I need to talk with you/speak with you  
> 8\. I know you don't understand me but I must/have to say what I think. I... I think about you every day, I think I need you. I want to be with you forever because you are the love of my life.  
> 9\. Thank you, Stevie. I love you too.  
> 10\. Bucky... You are a dick.


End file.
